Departments & Programs
Special Programs
Honors Program
The IUPUI Honors Program is open to students in both the Purdue and Indiana University degree programs. Students with an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 after their first full semester of work, entering freshmen with a minimum combined math and verbal (critical reading) SAT score of 1200, or ACT of 26, and those who have graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class, are automatically invited to participate in the Honors Program. Students with a GPA of less than 3.0 may be permitted to take honors courses. They should, however, discuss the matter with their academic advisor and the honors advisor before doing so.
In general, students may take no more than 6 credit hours of honors work each semester. Students may earn honors credit by taking special Honors Program courses (HON H300, HON H399, HON H400), by taking specially designated sections of multisection courses, by doing special overseas or internship work, or by contracting for honors credit using an H-Option contract in conjunction with regular classes.
H-Option contracts are the most popular and frequent way that students earn honors credit. An H-Option requires that a student work out with the instructor of a course a specific contract for a paper, field project, oral presentation, etc., early in the semester. The contract is not merely an extension of the regular class work, but an opportunity not provided by regular assignments. All the necessary signatures of approval, including that of the director of the Honors Program, must be submitted to the Honors Program office before consent to begin the project will be given.
Students completing honors work or an honors degree will, upon request, receive an honors course record listing all honors work, to be included with official university grade transcripts.
For additional information, contact the IUPUI Honors Program, University College, UC 3140, 815 W. Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202-5164; phone (317) 274-2660; www.honors.iupui.edu.
To obtain an honors degree in computer science, mathematics, or physics, a student must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.3 and a minimum of 24 credit hours, with a 3.5 average in honors work. 6 hours of honors credit must be outside the student’s major field. A senior thesis track is also available. To obtain an honors degree in biology, chemistry, geology, or psychology, a student should follow the requirements described below.
Biology
Students with a GPA of 3.3 and 12 hours of credit, or newly entering freshmen with a minimum combined math and verbal (critical reading) SAT score of 1200 or who are graduating in the top 10 percent of their high school class, qualify for the Biology Honors Program. Students wishing to participate in the Biology Honors Program must first receive approval from the Department of Biology. Students may choose from two tracks. In Track 1 (honors with thesis), students must complete 21 credit hours of honors work including 6 credit hours outside of biology and 15 credit hours in biology. These biology hours are to include 4 credit hours of BIOL K101/BIOL K103 honors sections of lab/recitation, 6 credit hours in honors sections of BIOL K493, and 5 credit hours in H-Option biology courses and/or 500-600-level biology courses. In Track 2 (honors without thesis), students must complete 24 credit hours of honors work. These hours are to include 6 credit hours outside of biology, 4 credit hours of BIOL K101/BIOL K103 honors sections of lab/recitation, and 14 credit hours in H-Option biology courses and/or 500-600-level biology courses.
Chemistry
Students with a minimum GPA of 3.0 may be admitted into the Chemistry Honors Program with approval of the Honors Program and the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. After entering the program, maintenance of a GPA of 3.3 in all courses and of 3.5 in honors courses is necessary. The curriculum committee of the chemistry department will approve any honors Bachelor of Science degrees awarded in chemistry. In addition to meeting general honors requirements, students who intend to graduate with honors in chemistry must complete 24 honors credit hours, consisting of 1 credit hour in the CHEM C301 or CHEM C302 Chemistry Seminar, 6 credit hours in CHEM C409 Chemical Research, 5 credit hours of H-Options in undergraduate courses and/or graduate chemistry courses, and 12 credit hours of honors credit in courses outside of chemistry.
Geology
For the Bachelor of Science degree, honors students must complete 24 credit hours of honors work, 18 credit hours in geology and 6 credit hours in other approved honors courses. For the Bachelor of Arts degree, the requirements are 15 credit hours in geology and 9 credit hours outside geology in other approved honors courses. The following upper-division geology courses are approved for H-Option contracts: GEOL G205 Reporting Skills in Geoscience, GEOL G209 History of the Earth, GEOL G221 Introductory Minerology, GEOL G222 Introductory Petrology, GEOL G304 Principles of Paleontology, GEOL G323 Structural Geology, GEOL G334 Principles of Sedimentation and Stratigraphy, GEOL G403 Optical Mineralogy and Petrography, GEOL G404 Geobiology, plus GEOL G410 Undergraduate Research in Geology (1 cr.), GEOL G406 Introduction to Geochemistry, GEOL G413 Introduction to Geophysics, GEOL G415 Principles of Geomorphology, GEOL G416 Economic Geology, GEOL G430 Principles of Hydrology, and GEOL G499 Honors Research in Geology. The student must complete 3 credit hours in GEOL G499 Honors Research in Geology to satisfy the requirements for the honors component. The overall grade point average must be 3.3 with a 3.5 in all honors work.
Psychology
To graduate with honors, the student must earn at least 24 hours of honors credit, 6 credit hours of which must be in psychology and 6 credit hours of which must be outside of psychology (the remaining 12 credit hours can be either). At least 3 hours of this credit must be for PSY B499 Honors Research, which culminates in an honors thesis. Only grades of A or B will count for honors credit. To graduate with honors, the student must have an overall GPA of 3.3 with at least a 3.5 in honors and psychology courses.